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On 5-6 February 2020 a kick off meeting was held at the FAPESP headquarters in Sao Paulo for the joint NWO-FAPESP programme ‘Ecosystem restoration: the Brazilian Atlantic Forest as a case study’. The aim of this programme is to contribute to effective restoration and sustainable use of the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest through research and dissemination of results to policy makers.

During the first day, researchers from the four granted projects, together with the NWO-FAPESP programme committee, delegates from , the Dutch Consulate in Sao Paulo and the programme in Sao Paulo state, identified overarching research questions, methods and tools, knowledge gaps and ways to disseminate research. Plans were made on how to share knowledge and expertise among the projects and for student exchange possibilities between the Dutch and Brazilian counterparts in the four projects.  

Field visit to Parque das Neblinas

The next day there was a field visit to Parque das Neblinas. This area was once a large Eucalyptus plantation, but now the original Atlantic Forest is recovering through active and passive reforestation efforts. The characteristics of restored forest were observed, and discussions were held on the effectiveness of reforestation and further collaboration among the four projects.

What’s next?

A number of master students, PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers from both the Netherlands and Brazil are starting to carry out field research to assess characteristics of restored forest patches. Meanwhile, teleconferences between the Dutch and Brazilian researchers have been set up to plan for a large mid-term conference in June 2021 in the Netherlands. There are also plans to facilitate a summer school for PhD students.

Two of the four granted projects for the NWO-FAPESP programme ‘Ecosystem restoration: the Brazilian Atlantic Forest as a case study’ were granted to researchers from the Academy of Ecosystem Services, a partnership between Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ and several knowledge institutes, nature conservation NGOs and other societal partners that acts as a platform to provide solutions to issues related to ecosystem services and stimulate the exchange between science and practice.